Updated List as on 11.01.2016, provided by
Directorate of Estates – Holiday Homes can be availed by MPs, working and
retired Central government Employees, State Government Employees, Autonomous
and Statutory bodies employees:

Friday, March 25, 2016

Release of additional
instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness
Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi, has approved release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance
(DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to Pensioners
w.e.f. 01.01.2016. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing
rate of 119 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 58 lakh
pensioners.

The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which
is based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC). The
combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and
Dearness Relief would be of Rs. 6796.50 crore per annum and Rs.7929.24 crore
respectively, in the financial year 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from
January, 2016 to February, 2017). PIB

Subject:
Implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission — 2nd
meeting of the E-CoS

A meeting of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) was held on
1 st March, 2016 in the Cabinet Secretariat under the chairmanship of the
Cabinet Secretary to discuss issues raised by Staff„side of JCM

2. Welcoming the members of E-CoS and JCM Staff side, Cabinet Secretary
observed that the meeting had been called to take a note of concerns of
Stäff-$ide of JCM regarding recommendations of the 7th CPC and invited the
members Of Staff-side of JCM to share their views on the recommendations.

3. Opening the discussion, representative of Staff-side of JCM expressed
gratitude to Cabinet Secretary for inviting them for interaction regarding the
recommendations of the 7th CPC and requested that more frequent interactions of
JCM may be held to resolve outstanding issues across the table. It was
expressed that 7th CPC has recommended a meager increase of 14% in the minimum
pay as against increase ranging up to 54% during previous Pay Commissions. It
was further stated that the recommendations on minimum pay, allowances,
advances etc. will cause difficulty to employees. Representative of Staff-side
informed that they have already submitted a charter of demands to the Cabinet
Secretary bringing out the issues. These have also been discussed in the
meeting of JS (IC) with Staff-side of JCM held on 19.02.2016.

4. Major concerns expressed by JCM Staff-side were as under:

The minimum pay of Rs. 18000/- p.m. recommended by the Commission is on
lower side and needs to be revised upward by taking into account the prices of
commodities as on 01.07.2015 and appropriately factoring in for social
obligations & housing.

(ii) New Pension Scheme should be done away with. Persons governed by
the NPS are deprived of Family Pension and do not have provision of provident
fund. As a result they are at a disadvantageous position as compared to the
persons governed by the old system.

(iii) Recommendations on allowances need to be properly examined before
taking a decision.

(iv) Fixed Medical Allowance should be increased from existing Rs. 500
p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m. as majority of cities are not covered under CGI-IS and
people residing outside the CGHS covered area are unable to meet their medical
needs with meager amount of Rs. 500 p.m.

(v) Recommendation regarding withdrawal of non-interest bearing advances
may not be accepted.

(vi) Outsourcing of services should be discouraged as the contract
workers are being exploited by contractors and at the game time the service
delivery is being compromised due to inefficiency and lack of accountability of
low aid contractual staff.

(vii) Enhancement in contribution towards Group Insurance Scheme, is not
justified as this would reduce the actual increase in take home salary
considerably. If the rates are to be raised, the Government should bear the
insurance premium

(viii) The recommendation regarding grant of only 80% of salary for the
second year of Child Care Leave need not be accepted as this would deter women
from availing of CCL, which was introduced as a welfare measure.

(ix) Annual increments be granted @ 5% instead of existing 3% and
increments may be granted on two dates viz., 1 st of January and 1 st of July
of every year as in the present system of grant of increment on 1 st July of
every year, employees joining/promoted after 1 st January, who do not complete
6 months services as on 1 st July, have to wait for up to 18 months for grant
of increment.

(x) The Commission’s recommendation of downgrading the Assistants of
Central Secretariat for bringing in parity with their counterparts in the field
offices is not appropriate.

(xi) Recommendation regarding PRIS need not be accepted as no scientific
mechanism has been devised to assess the performance of employees and the same
could ecourage favoritism.

5. Issues regarding financial upgradation under MACPS in promotional
hierarchy without grading stipulation. grant of two increments on promotion
introduction of Productivity Linked Bonus, treating Grameen Dak Sevak as
Government employees, removal of pap of 5% on compassionate appointment 8i full
pay and allowances In case of Work Related Illness and Injury Leave improving
promotional avenues for technical and supervisory staff etc. were also raised
by members of JCM.

6. During the discussion, representatives of JCM also suggested that the
Nodal Officers nominated by various Ministries/Departments may hold
interactions with recognized Staff Associations and other stakeholders under
their purview so as to identify issues specific to those Ministries/Departments
for redressal.

7. After hearing the participants, Cabinet Secretary observed that the
deliberations have helped E-CoS in understanding the major concerns of the
Staff-side and said that all
issues have been taken note of. He assured that fair consideration will be given to all
points brought out by JCM before taking a final view. He further stated
that the E-CoS needs to examine the Report of the Commission in entirety as
well as the issues raised by JCM in consultation with all other stakeholders.
As such, it may take some time to take a final call on the recommendations of
the Commission.

8. Cabinet Secretary also advised the members of E-CoS to hold
interactions with their Staff Associations and other stakeholders under their
purview preferably within a week.

After the initial comments from the Secretary
Pension and the Secretary Staff Side, the items which had been subjected to
discussion in the earlier meeting and the action taken statement thereon were
taken up. The following were the issues that came up for discussion in the
Action Taken Statement.

1. Abnormal delay in the issue of revised PPO to
pre 2006 retirees pensioners/family pensioners. (as per the minutes of the JCM
held on 26.02.20125).The following information was given at the meeting:

2.Cashless treatment to CGHS beneficiaries by
empanelled private hospitals. The health Ministry officials stated that since
the budgetary provisions are made separately for each Ministry it was not
possible to ensure cashless treatment to serving employees. The concerned Department
or Ministry has to enter into agreement with the hospitals.

3.Finalisation of Family pension cases within a
specified period.

It was stated by the official side that the
instructions have already been issued. Regarding the complaint from the M.P.
Circle of the Postal Department, the matter has been taken up with the
concerned authorities on 6.2.2015. The representative of the Postal Department
said that the complaint has been attended to and the matter has been settled.

Agenda Items for the meeting:

1. Grant of Gratuity on retirement/death of a
Central Govt. NPS subscriber. The representatives of the Pension department
said that the Department of Expenditure has given their concurrence for the
grant of Gratuity for the NPS subscribers on 8.1.2016. The requisite amendment
to the rules, they added were being processed and the consultation with the Law
Ministry and the Labour Ministry have already been made. They said that they
would expedite the issuance of orders in the matter.

2. Extension of the benefits of full pension to
pre-2006 pensioners who had completed more than 20 years of service but less
than 33 years. The Staff side said that despite series of judgements in favour
of the pensioners, the Government has not yet issued the orders. Recently the
Nagpur Tribunal has issued a contempt notice to the Government. They also
alleged that the pensioners are being dragged to litigation. The
Representatives of the Pension Department informed that the Department of
Expenditure had not agreed to extend the benefit generally to all which has
resulted in filing appeal. The representative of the Department of Expenditure
stated that in the light of the view of the Department of legal affairs, the
matter would be re-examined.

3. Delay in the finalisation of Family pension
cases by the PCDA (Pension) Allahabad. In response to the complaint the
representative of the Defence Ministry informed that only in a few cases, the
finalisation has been delayed due to the documentation difficulties. They
assured to sort out the matter.

4. Grant of modifed parity to all those who
retired prior to 1.1.2006 with reference to the upgraded post. The Staff Side
stated that the Department of Pension has taken a very narrow view of the
matter and the cases are dragged to the courts of law. The very spirit of the
recommendation of the 5th CPC to bring about atleast modified parity if not
full parity has not been appreciated by the Govt. The issue was discussed at
length. The official side pointed out the decisions of the Court in favour of
the position taken by the Government in the case of K.S. Krishnaswany in CANO.
3174/3006, which has been upheld by the Honourable Gujarat High Court. In reply
the Staff Side pointed out that the said decisions quoted by the official side
had come about due to the phrase employed while issuing the original order viz.
corresponding replacement scale. After some discussions, the Chairman agreed to
look into the matter afresh and revisit the order of the Department of Pension
in the matter.

5.The meeting also discussed the difficulties of
Pensioners during the hearing of Pension Adalats. The Staff Side pointed out
the need to engage some knowledgeable person to assistant the complainants. The
official side said that there had been no prohibition in the matter. The
Petitioners are entitled to seek the assistance of another pensioner in
presenting his case. If specific complaint of denial of this facility is
brought to their notice, the Pension Department will issue the necessary
instruction in the matter.

Monday, March 21, 2016

NO SC/ST QUOTAS FOR GOVT JOB PROMOTIONS

SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court
has ruled that scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) members cannot
claim quota as a right in government job promotions. This move was taken while
rejecting a PIL seeking direction to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to grant
reservation in promotion.

In
the landmark verdict, the apex court on March 11 said that the states were not
constitutionally obliged to give preferential treatment to any community in
promotion.

A
bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C Pant said that the
government was not bound by any constitutional provision to frame a policy for
reservation in promotion and the court could not order making reservation in
promotion mandatory.

Referring
to Articles 16(4), 16(4-A) and 16(4-B) of the Constitution mandating socially
affirmative action to help disadvantaged groups, the court said that the states
were not compelled to make reservation for SCs/STs in promotion.

It
further said that the provisions allowed the government to exercise discretion
and provide for reservation only after collecting quantifiable data showing
backwardness of a class and inadequacy of their representation in public
employment.

According
to Article 16(4-A), nothing shall prevent the state from making any provision
for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any
class or classes of posts in the services in favour of SCs and STs which,
according to the state, were not adequately represented.

The
bench refused to direct the UP government to carry out an exercise to find the
representation of SCs/STs in government jobs in order to frame a policy for
reservation in promotion.

"The
state is not bound to make reservation for SCs and STs in matter of promotions.
Therefore, there is no duty. In such a situation, to issue a mandamus to
collect data would tantamount to asking the authorities whether there is ample
data to frame a rule or regulation. This will be in a way, entering into the
domain of legislation," the bench said, according to TOI.

The
bench further said that the Constitution granted discretionary power to the
government to frame law for reservation in promotion and they could not be
forced to bring regulation on the issue.

"The
courts do not formulate any policy, remains away from making anything that
would amount to legislation, rules and regulation or policy relating to
reservation. The courts can test the validity of the same when they are
challenged. The court cannot direct for making legislation or for that matter
any kind of subordinate legislation," the bench said, while rejecting the
PIL.

REVISION OF
INTEREST RATES FOR SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES W.E.F 01/04/2016.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Court orders
against Government of India instructions on service matters-consultation with
Ministry of Law and Department of Personnel and Training on question of filing
appeals. CLICK HERE
FOR DETAILS

Thursday, March 10, 2016

GOVERNMENT ROLLS
BACK PROPOSAL TO TAX PROVIDENT FUND

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) In the face of all round attack, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley today completely rolled back the controversial proposal
to tax the employees' provident fund (EPF) at the time of withdrawal.

Taking
the first opportunity available, he made a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha
in which he also announced withdrawal of imposing monetary limit for
contribution of employers to provident and superannuation fund of Rs 1.5 lakh
for taking tax benefit.

Jaitley,
however, left untouched the proposal tax exempt 40 per cent of National Pension
Scheme and services provided by EPFO to employees.

"In
view of the representations received, the government would like to do
comprehensive review of this proposal and therefore I withdraw the proposals in
para 138 and 139 on my budget speech. The proposal of 40 per cent exemption
given to NPS subscribers at the time of withdrawal remains," the Minister
said. Click here
for full details
(PTI)

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

New Delhi: All non-entitled
central government employees have been allowed to travel by air while availingLeave Travel Concession (LTC)
with a condition that reimbursement in such cases shall be restricted to the
fare of their entitled class of train or actual expense.

The Ministry of Personnel had
recently eased norms for processing claims of LTC -- which allows grant of
leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees to
travel to their home towns and other places.

"Government employees not
entitled to travel by air may travel by any airline. However, reimbursement in
such cases shall be restricted to the fare of their entitled class of train,
transport or actual expense, whichever is less," an order issued by the
Ministry said.

The move comes after the
government received a number of queries in this regard. In many cases,
employees did not have railway station or good road network to their home towns
and they had requested for permission to travel by air to save time, which was
being denied, officials said.

Now, they will be allowed to
travel by air and by any airline, they said. At present, those entitled to
travel by air have to mandatorily travel by Air India.

A government servant may also
apply for advance for himself or his family members 65 days before the proposed
date of the outward journey and he or she would be required to produce the
tickets within ten days of the withdrawal of advance, irrespective of
the date of commencement of the journey, as per the new norms.

There are about 50 lakh central
government employees.

All central government employees
have been asked to share photos and interesting details of their holidays.

The DoPT has decided to put a
limit of one month for verification of LTC claim after the LTC bill is
submitted by government employee for settlement and final payment.

"Efforts should be made to
reduce the duration of processing of LTC applications or claims at the
earliest. The maximum time limit should be strictly adhered to and non-
compliance of time limit should be adequately explained," its directive
said.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

NJCA meeting held at JCM (NC) staffside office on
07th March 2016, after detailed deliberations has decided to
postpone the indefinite strike date of 11th April 2016 and strike
notice serving date of 11th March 2016 to 11th July 2016
and 09th June 2016 respectively. The following are the reasons which
necessitated the change in dates.

a)While
summing up the discussion on Charter of demands held on 1st March
2016 by Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECoS) with JCM National Council
Standing Committee members, Cabinet Secretary has stated that reasonable time should
be given to the Government for a fair consideration of all the demands raised
in the Charter of demands, since the issues concern inter-departmental
consultations.

b)After
declaration of the Election schedule in five State Assemblies, the Election Code
of Conduct has come into effect. Further there will be polling on 11th
April 2016 (strike commencement date) in West Bengal and Assam.

c)As
per Section 22 of Industrial Disputes Act 1947 with regard to the validity of
strike notice is not more than six weeks from the date of serving the strike
notice. Even if we give strike notice on 11th March 2016, for
commencement of indefinite strike after the election dates (ie 20th
May 2016), the six weeks period will be over by that time and we have to serve
fresh strike notice again.

Considering
all the above aspects, the meeting took the following decisions:-

1.The
indefinite strike shall commence from 6am on 11th July 2016.

2.Strike
notice would be served on 09th June 2016.

3.Massive
demonstration shall be held in all workplace on 11th March 2016 in
support of the charter of demands and strike decision.

4.The
decision of the NJCA would be communicated to the Cabinet Secretary.

5.Detailed
mobilization programmes would be given later on.

Copy
of the NJCA Circular dated 07th March 2016 and letter addressed to
Cabinet Secretary dated 07-03-2016 are enclosed herewith.

In view of the above
decisions, the state C-O-C level joint meeting of office bearers / committee
members of C-O-Cs and affiliated organizations of Confederation scheduled
earlier will be rescheduled after NJCA mobilisation programme is finalised.
Department-wise campaign and mobilisation on charter of demands (Common demands
plus Department specific demands) shall continue.

2.CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS DECIDES TO HOLD
NATIONAL CONVENTION OF WORKERS IN NEW DELHI ON 30TH MARCH 2016

The
Central Trade Unions in their meeting held on 27th January 2016,
besides deciding to stage All India Protest Day on 10th March 2016,
also decided to hold National Convention of Workers towards the end of March in
New Delhi to discuss and decide on next courseof action programme against the
anti-people and anti-labour policies by the Govt. The convention will now be
held on 30th March 2016 at Mavalankar Hall, New Delhi. The
convention will commence at 10.30 am on 30th March 2016.

All C-O-Cs and
affiliated organisations of Confederation are requested to make the 10th
March 2016 All India Protest Day a grand success jointly with other Central
Trade Unions. Regarding National Convention on 30th Marfch 2016 the
C-O-Cs in and around Delhi are requested to ensure maximum participation of
Central Govt Employees in the Convention. National Secretariat members of
Confederation, who are available in Delhi shall also attend the Convention.

Copy
of the joint statement issued by Central Trade Unions is enclosed herewith.

3. WFTU- TRADE UNION
INTERNATIONAL – PUBLIC AND ALLIED SERVICES -
WORLD DAY OF STRUGGLE AGAINST PRIVATISATION ON 4TH APRIL 2016

The
Trade Union International Public and Allied Services – World Federation of
Trade Unions (WFTU) has given a call to observe 4th April 2016 as “World
Day of Struggle against Privatisation”, focusing mainly on the following
issues:-

1.To
demand modern, efficient, quality, universal and free public services, to
answer the real needs of the workers and people, against their outsourcing or
privatization, refusing its use for the accumulation of profits by the
oligarchy.

2.To
demand the repeal of all rules affecting the rights of Public Administration
workers in the countries where they are imposed.

3.To
demand improvements in the working and living conditions of the Public
Administration workers, namely better wages and work times compatible with
their personal and family life.

4.The
end precariousness of employment contracts and have guarantees of stability in
public employment to ensure the independence from Capitalist Governments,
either in the central, regional and local administrations and in the State –
owned business sectors

5.To
exercise the right of Trade Union freedom (association, meetings,
demonstration, participation etc) in all workplaces and the right to
negotiation and collective bargaining.

6.To
implement social policies that answers the interest of the people and workers
for a fairer distribution of wealth, with the rejection of charitable social
policies.

7.For
the rejection of all neo-liberal policies and austerity that in various parts
of the world seek to destroy the labour and social rights of workers and
people.

8.To
struggle for peace and internationalist solidarity against war, militarism,
aggression, interference and blockades that undermine the interests of the
wokers and people – in defence of national sovereignty, for the people to
freely decide their destiny.

Confederation
National Secretariat call upon all C-O-Cs and Affiliated organizations to
observe 4th April 2016 as “World Day of Struggle against
Privatisation” along with All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF)
and Bank / Insurance Associations and Federations.